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Nature, Science, and Myth in the Landscape Art of Frederic Leighton

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Nature, Science, and Myth in the Landscape Art of Frederic Leighton EVITERNA, REVISTA DE HUMANIDADES, ARTE Y CULTURA INDEPENDIENTE ISSN: 2530-6014, Nº 3, (MARZO 2018) Nature, Science, and Myth in the Landscape Art of Frederic Leighton Naturaleza, ciencia y mito en el arte del paisaje de Frederic Leighton Pola Durajska Universidad de York, UK ([email protected]) Recibido el 03 de diciembre de 2017; revisado el 10 de enero de 2018; aceptado el 18 de febrero de 2018; publicado el 21 de marzo de 2018 RESUMEN: Frederic Leighton es principalmente reconocido como el presidente de la Royal Academy en la segunda mitad del siglo XIX, exhibiendo pinturas figurativas de gran escala con un alto grado de acabado. La beca, sin embargo, ha pasado por alto sus pinturas al aire libre creadas durante sus frecuentes viajes a Italia, España, Egipto y Grecia, por nombrar algunos. Como los bocetos al óleo de Leighton comprenden más de 200 lienzos y tablas, su importancia para su obra es primordial y debe ser claramente articulada. Usando el ejemplo de An Outcrop in the Campagna, este artículo explora cómo los tres aspectos - naturaleza, ciencia y mito - se fusionaron en la visión del paisaje de Leighton. Se examinan la composición y la técnica de la pintura, así como la influencia del círculo de Leighton, ejemplificado por Giovanni Costa y la Escuela de Arte Etrusco. Finalmente, la física solar y la termodinámica victorianas se presentan como un contexto importante para la dimensión simbólica de los paisajes de Leighton. PALABRAS CLAVE: Frederic Leighton, Paisaje, Plein air pintura, Ciencia, Mitografía, Siglo XIX ABSTRACT: Frederic Leighton is mostly recognised as President of the Royal Academy in the latter half of the nineteenth century, exhibiting large scale figurative paintings of a high degree of finish. Scholarship has, however, overlooked his plein air paintings created during his frequent voyages to Italy, Spain, Egypt and Greece, to name a few. As Leighton’s oil sketches comprised of over 200 canvases and boards, their significance to his oeuvre is paramount and needs to be clearly articulated. Using the example of An Outcrop in the Campagna, this article explores how the three aspects – nature, science and myth – merged in Leighton’s vision of landscape. The painting’s composition and technique are examined, as well as the influence of Leighton’s circle, exemplified by Giovanni Costa and the Etruscan School of Art. Finally, Victorian solar physics and 1 Pola Durajska thermodynamics are presented as an important context for the symbolic dimension of Leighton’s landscapes. KEY WORDS: Frederic Leighton, Landscape, Open-air painting, Plein air painting, Science, Mythography, Nineteenth century Introduction The landscape oil sketches of Frederic Leighton (1830-1896) can at first glance be difficult to relate to his exhibited paintings due to the staggering discrepancy in terms of scale, subject, and technique. Still, sketching outdoors was certainly an important aspect for many painters who thus worked on their skills as well as produced useful studies which could be implemented in larger compositions already in their studios. In his exploration of painting from nature, Leighton followed the prominent tradition of British landscape art, represented by John Constable and JMW Turner, but simultaneously was alert to new tendencies – the Barbizon School. Camille Corot, whose works in the 1860s Leighton bought and displayed in his Holland Park studio house, largely inspired the latter’s landscape sketching practice. Leighton’s admiration for these revolutionary French artists was astonishingly ‘far-sighted’ on the one hand, yet on the other perfectly justified by the impact of the ‘truth to nature’ ideal which, initiated by the Pre-Raphaelites and propagated by John Ruskin, resonated deeply with young Leighton (Ormond, 1975, pp. 34-35). In 1852 he wrote from Rome (Barrington, 1906, vol. 1, p. 109): “I long to find myself again face to face with Nature, to follow it, to watch it, and to copy it, closely, faithfully, ingenuously – as Ruskin suggests, ‘choosing nothing, and rejecting nothing’.” In his landscapes, which he could paint freely and without imposed restrictions, Leighton certainly remained faithful to the concept of studying nature rigorously, as exemplified by his drawing of a Lemon Tree made on Capri and exhibited alongside the Pre-Raphaelites at the Hogarth Club in 1859 (Lang, 1886, p. 6). 2 Nature, Science, and Myth in the Landscape Art of Frederic Leighton 1. Sketching in Italy Italy was a place of particular significance to Leighton, who tried to visit it almost every year and produced numerous oil studies during each journey. In 1853 Leighton for the first time joined Giovanni Costa and George Heming Mason in a sketching expedition. Costa and Leighton developed a friendship that lasted until the latter’s death, often setting out on journeys in Italy together – in fact An Outcrop in the Campagna [1] is most likely a product of their trip in the autumn of 1866 with William Blake Richmond (Riopelle, 1999, p. 136). More specifically, it appears that the sketch depicts the Alban Hills which is all the more likely taking into account the fact that Costa had painted there before, showing the results of those earlier trips to the newly met Richmond (Reynolds, 1992, p. 162). 1. An Outcrop in the Campagna, Frederic Leighton, c. 1866 Oil on canvas, 20.2 x 43.5 cm. The Gere Collection, photo © The National Gallery, London Costa was the leader of the Etruscan School of Art, officially established in the winter of 1883- 84. The School’s denomination came primarily from the fact that its founder “was born in the Trastevere district of Rome, which formed part of the ancient Etruria, and he was often called by his friends, Mason, Leighton, Richmond, and others, the Etruscan” (Rossetti Agresti, 1907, pp. 211- 212). The archaeological association of the term, therefore, links the painters in question with the ancient heritage of the Campagnan landscape, and perhaps played also some role in the dissemination of the solar myth among them. The principles Costa set for the Etruscan School referred to the compositional and technical aspects, as well as to the artists’ attitude towards nature. The Etruscans were most recognised for the horizontal format and “asymmetrically arranged horizon” of their paintings. To that list of characteristics Christopher Newall adds also “atmospheric tonality” and “high horizon, very often 3 Pola Durajska close to the upper edge of the picture space” (Newall, 1989, p. 36). All of those descriptors are very fitting An Outcrop in the Campagna, and prove the degree to which Leighton was inspired by Costa’s teaching. The landscape in question depicts a panoramic view of a grassed slope with scattered rocks reflecting the sun. The hill, diagonally positioned within the frame, almost entirely fills up the canvas, leaving but a thin strip of light blue sky that is gradually opening up towards the right hand side of the composition. Leighton’s palette includes soft tones of green and yellow, with a few splashes of dark green for shrubs accentuating the elevated line of horizon. While the sky is painted with a thin layer of paint – so thin that the canvas shows through – the hillside emerges with freely applied brushstrokes and varying amounts of paint, adding to the dimensionality of this natural formation. Christopher Riopelle argues that the “emphatic daub of pure white” on one of the rocks is “unexpected” (Riopelle, 1999, p. 136), yet in fact it is emblematic of many of Leighton’s landscape studies as it suggests the intense sun rays being reflected by stones and white-washed walls. The way those “daubs” stand out and are not organically merged with the lower layer of paint suggests that they were perhaps added on top of the varnish, in the manner of the Old Masters when trying to mimic a spark in the eye or a glass. Interestingly, Leighton’s letters of 1888 to Arthur Herbert Church, the Royal Academy’s Professor of Chemistry, demonstrate both interest in and knowledge about the chemical aspects of pigments (Barrington, 1906, vol. 2, pp. 290-302), further proved by Church’s dedication of his 1890 The Chemistry of Paint and Painting to Leighton himself. Another valuable source are Leighton’s Royal Academy notebooks, in which he discusses the use of colours (Ormond, 1975, p. 122). In this matter, the artist relied strongly on Corot’s recommendation of the French transparent yellow: Lacque de Gaude, “finding that it made a pleasant green with blue-black and white” (Hamerton, 1875, p. 32). The palette, and composition, of Leighton’s sketch indeed appear to be inspired by his French role model. Previous scholarship has omitted that An Outcrop in the Campagna seems to echo Corot’s A Rising Path [2] in the scattered distribution of rocks and shrubs, as well as guiding the viewer’s eye towards the top of the hill, thus lifting the line of horizon. In both cases, a thin layer of yellow was added on top of white paint and, as a result, the viewer’s attention is immediately drawn – to the path in Corot’s sketch, and one of the rocks in Leighton’s landscape, both elements serving as tools for guiding one’s eye towards the elevated horizon. Another significant commonality is that, as Philip Hamerton noted in 1875, “landscape-painters employ a transparent yellow chiefly for glazing greens” (Hamerton, 1875, p. 32). This also seems to be the case for both landscapes, and in An Outcrop in the Campagna it particularly adds to the effect of radiating heat, as yellow is the 4 Nature, Science, and Myth in the Landscape Art of Frederic Leighton dominant base. For Johann Wolfgang Goethe, yellow and blue represented the opposing qualities of “light” and “shadow,” “brightness” and darkness,” and “warmth” and “coldness,” with green symbolising a “union” between the two (Goethe, 2000, p.
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